The fearless sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has attacked South Korea, calling its government idiotic for considering new unilateral sanctions against the North.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it was considering sanctions on North Korea followings its increased barrage of missile tests. It also said it would take action against cyberattacks by North Korea if they conducted a nuclear test.
Kim Yo Jong reacted to this news by saying: “I wonder what ‘sanctions’ the South Korean group, no more than a running wild dog gnawing on a bone given by the U.S., impudently will impose on North Korea."
She continued to call South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and his administration “idiots who continue creating the dangerous situation.”
She "warn[ed] the impudent and stupid" government that "desperate" sanctions and pressure against North Korea will only add fuel to the hostility and anger and "will serve as a noose for them."
Responding to Ms Kim's insults, Seoul said it was "very deplorable for her to denounce our head of state with rough, substandard words and show no basic forms of etiquette".
The unification ministry, an executive department of the South Korean government, added it strongly condemned - what it called - Ms Kim's "impure attempt to incite anti-government struggles and shake our system".
Analysts are now worried that her strong words will further escalate military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Ms Kim's official title is Vice Department Director of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, but South Korea's spy agency has said that she oversees relations with both South Korea and the US, hence her latest tirade.
South Korea also says she is the North's second-most powerful person after her brother.
North Korea has continually fired nuclear and missile tests since 2006 and as a result has been under 11 rounds of United Nations sanctions.
However the UN Security Council has failed to adopt new sanctions against North Korea for its recent banned ballistic missile launches because of the opposition of China and Russia - two veto-wielding members of the chamber.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it believes North Korea is turning to cybercrime and covert ship-to-ship transfers of unauthorised goods as a way to evade UN sanctions.
Spokesperson Lim Soosuk said South Korea will consider having North Korea face consequences for the illicit ship-to-ship transfers if it conducts a nuclear test, which would be its first in five years.
